Utility vault covers, or manhole covers, are typically round or rectangular, but can be of various shapes. The covers are usually made of cast metal or concrete and are typically quite heavy. Thus the covers are removed by sliding the cover off the underlying vault casing.
Various types of seals have been unsatisfactorily used in an attempt to provide a long lived seal which can prevent water from entering the utility vault. If a sealing gasket is used between the vault cover and the vault in a load bearing capacity, the gasket deteriorates as traffic over the vault cover causes the gasket to abrade. Non load bearing seals, such as O-ring seals are useful on round vault covers. When O-rings are used on non-circular vault covers, however, the O-ring is unseated or damaged when the non-circular length of the seal is pulled or abraded as the cover is slidably withdrawn.
There thus exists a need for a utility vault cover seal which is applicable to non-circular covers, and which can withstand repeated use as the vault cover is slidably removed.